Amazon Bans Bittorrent App Frostwire Over Piracy Concerns

[hihello]

Following in the footsteps of Apple, Amazon has decided to ban a popular BitTorrent client because it "can be used to facilitate piracy." The developer of the FrostWire Android app is perplexed and stresses that his software only promotes free and legal downloads.

Taking “infringing” apps out of popular app stores is one of Hollywood’s key anti-piracy priorities for the years to come.

Various copyright holder groups frequently report “piracy-enabling” apps to Apple, Google, Microsoft and Amazon, alongside requests for the stores to take them offline.

The stores themselves also screen for potentially problematic software. Apple, for example, has notoriously banned all BitTorrent related apps.

This week, Amazon is following in Apple’s footsteps by banning one of the most used BitTorrent clients from its store. The Android version of FrostWire had been listed for well over a year but Amazon recently had a change of heart.

FrostWire developer Angel Leon tells TF that the app was removed without prior warning. When he asked the company for additional details, he was told that Amazon sees his app as a pirate tool.

“In reviewing your app, we determined that it can be used to facilitate the piracy or illegal download of content. Any facilitation of piracy or illegal downloads is not allowed in our program,” Amazon’s support team writes.

Leon was baffled by the response. FrostWire had been a member of the Developer Select program for over a year and always made sure to avoid any links to piracy. On the contrary, FrostWire was actively promoting Creative Commons downloads and other legal content.

“We have never promoted illegal file sharing, we actually promote creative commons downloads, and free legal downloads from soundcloud, archive.org. The app is also a full blown music player, but none of this probably counts,” Leon tells us.

“Web browsers and email clients are still there, programs that also fall in the category of being ‘used to facilitate the piracy or illegal download of content’,” he adds, pointing out the arbitrary decision.

While it’s not clear why Amazon changed its stance towards FrostWire, it wouldn’t be a surprise if pressure from copyright holders played a role.

FrostWire’s developer believes that the mobile developer industry may have to come up with a less censorship prone store in the future. There’s a need for a decentralized app store that secures the interests of both iOS and Android developers.

For now, Leon hopes that other stores will be less eager to pull the plug on perfectly legal apps. While it may seem to be a small decision for the stores, having a popular app removed can ruin a developer’s entire business.

The beauty of FrostWire and other BitTorrent clients is that they offer the freedom to share files with people from all over the world without being censored. Restricting access to apps that make this possible will harm society, Leon believes.

“This is a freedom which eventually protects society from the likes of totalitarian governments, something some of us at FrostWire have lived first hand in Latin America, something that forced me and so many Venezuelans to leave our countries and start again from scratch in the US,” Leon concludes.

Despite being banned from Amazon’s store, Kindle users will still be able to get updates via the FrostWire website. A special installer for Kindle will be available soon.

Source

[steven36]

Ive not used Frostwire since It use be like a free Limewire Pro... After Limewire got closed it was not long after in version 5, Gnutella support was dropped entirely, There's BitTorrent clients everywhere and Gnutella is dead as Frostwire. And in the end Kindle users will still be able to get updates for it anyways . Its not shocking that Amazon would do such a thing. They work closely with Hollywood . When they did a study Hulu vs Netfilx vs Amazon . Hulu and Netfilx got jumped on for not doing enough to block regions from watching region blocked content . Amazon was not even jumped on they do everything Hollywood tells them too. ;)

[knowledge-Spammer]

lol

[myidisbb]

stupid and illegal. base on their logic they should ban zip and rar files. plus nfo ones. enough is enough. the right to use your devices for the user comes first before some pos copyright holder troll. also base on their logic we should ban vehicles, knifes, bats and fire arms.

this is why I do not like smartphones nor tablets. no freedom without unlocking them and still not much afterwards.

[steven36]

stupid and illegal.

Always big companies have it written in there toss they can remove anything at anytime . Its not illegal because they want mirror it .

Goggle in the past have removed many things to do with p2p .. Amazon owns the site you cant tell them what they have to post. Even private p2p bans many newer BitTorrent clients there no private sites that even allows you to use Frostwire lol.

[myidisbb]

again they can take those tos and stick it. not legal in all states

[shamu726]

They should ban web browsers since they facilitate illegal downloads more than bittorrent clients; but they won't. It's just an excuse they use to avoid lawsuits from the MAFIAA.

[steven36]

They should ban web browsers since they facilitate illegal downloads more than bittorrent clients; but they won't. It's just an excuse they use to avoid lawsuits from the MAFIAA.

amazon is a store they mostly just sell things why would you go look for a web browser there ? You can get Frostwire for Kindle here http://www.frostwire.com/androidJust because a site want host something dont make it illegal .

again they can take those tos and stick it. not legal in all states

Its just like this site if you post something they dont allow they can and will remove it ... Any site at anytime can remove what wants its just like when github.com removed Popcorn Time apps it was not nothing they could do but host it else were .

[shamu726]

They should ban web browsers since they facilitate illegal downloads more than bittorrent clients; but they won't. It's just an excuse they use to avoid lawsuits from the MAFIAA.

amazon is a store they mostly just sell things why would you go look for a web browser there ? You can get Frostwire for Kindle here http://www.frostwire.com/androidJust because a site want host something dont make it illegal .

The article you posted refers to the Amazon Appstore for Android from which Frostwire was banned. It has free and paid apps, including web browsers.

And I was referring to the double standard being applied here. They banned Frostwire because it "facilitates the piracy or illegal download of content". If they applied this fairly, they'd have to ban web browsers from their app store too but they don't. They only banned Frostwire because it's a bittorrent client and it would look they are actively against piracy. It's all a PR thing.

[steven36]

They should ban web browsers since they facilitate illegal downloads more than bittorrent clients; but they won't. It's just an excuse they use to avoid lawsuits from the MAFIAA.

amazon is a store they mostly just sell things why would you go look for a web browser there ? You can get Frostwire for Kindle here http://www.frostwire.com/androidJust because a site want host something dont make it illegal .

The article you posted refers to the Amazon Appstore for Android from which Frostwire was banned. It has free and paid apps, including web browsers.

I know its free that's the whole point why would they host open source there ? If I go there I only go to buy something I know have some stuff free but most stuff is not,

Whats the difference than amazon covering there butt by removing it. than Frostware telling you cant use to download stuff and you still can to cover there own butt from the MAFIAA. .

Downloading FrostWire does not constitute permission or a license for obtaining or distributing unauthorized files. It is illegal for you to distribute copyrighted files without permission.